Local school puts new spin on education

Students go at own pace at Liberty Harbor Academy

UPDATED 8:05 AM EDT Apr 04, 2013

MANCHESTER, N.H. -

A private school in Manchester is offering a new approach to teaching that it says is revolutionary.

At Liberty Harbor Academy, classes are organized differently than at public schools or many private schools. In the classrooms, students of different ages, from 10-18, engage in discussions, rather than listen to lectures.

Instead of freshmen, sophomores and so on, Liberty Harbor uses distinctions based on the classical order of columns -- Tuscan, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Students move from one order to the next at their own pace.

Four times a year, students have the opportunity to be assessed and promoted to the next level.

"They decide when they're confident enough to pull everything together," said Julianne S. Cooper, president and founder of Liberty Harbor. "Everybody has an adviser, and every day, you meet with your adviser."

Cooper and her husband, Mark Reeder, said they believe their approach to education elevates students to a more sophisticated level and primes them for success.

"It may sound corny, but we love them as people," Reeder said. "I don't think of them as a vessel that comes in and I'm going to put some history in them and then they are going to move over to here and some math will be put into them and around it goes."

Students wear a uniform and address each other as "Ms" and "Mister" and teachers as "doctor" or "professor." Etiquette and civility are part of the curriculum, and on Fridays, the entire school -- all 18 students -- go into a business environment. Dean Michelle Lamontagne Strout is their guide.

"So they can connect what they learn Monday through Thursday to their own future," Strout said.

Friday afternoons include a guest speaker who shares his or her American dream, and the students then work on improvisation and public speaking. Strout is a former Miss New Hampshire who said she believes impressions matter.

"This is what will set them apart," Strout said. "Not only are they going to be intelligent, well-rounded and knowledgeable about the community, it's how you sell that package that really makes the difference."

Students said they enjoy how the school does things. Student Lydia Kelley transferred from a public high school three weeks ago.

"Here, you listen and observe, and you learn that way, and you don't have the teacher tell you the same thing over and over again, basically," she said. "I love it here. It's great."

Tuition is $15,000 per year, and Liberty Harbor is accredited by the state of New Hampshire.

Education policy expert Dianna Gahlsdorf-Terrell of St. Anselm College said there is no single right way to educate children. She said she's a little skeptical that Liberty Harbor is as revolutionary as it claims.

"It's great. It works for some kids," Gahlsdorf-Terrell said. "We've had mixed-aged classrooms since the little red schoolhouse and 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.' Those were kids who were 10 and 18, as well. That's not revolutionary."

Montessori and Waldorf schools also mix ages, while parochial and private schools are strong on uniforms and etiquette. Gahlsdorf-Terrell said that no matter what the school philosophy is, it's parental buy-in that sets up a student for success.

"In the research, we're seeing that the more alignment there is in the home life and the way the teachers and administrators work with the kids and talk with the kids, the greater the success for the kids," she said.

Liberty Harbor Academy's first two students will graduate next year. Graduation requirements are also different than at typical schools. Students must make an oral presentation and be prepared to answer a variety of questions from faculty and students for up to two hours.

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